Background

Innovation Engineering is a methodology created by UC Berkeley's Entrepreneurship and Technology department; it is a framework and guide for any student creating something new.

Defining business goals

Through my internship, I was tasked to redesign and rebrand the framework's website. I conducted user research in order to discover how we could best fulfill the following business goals:

1. Emphasize the impact of Innovation Engineering
2. Draw students to learn more about the framework and use it in their projects
3. Engage industry partners to sponsor student Innovation Engineering projects.

We worked to develop an MVP of the web application, pitched it to stakeholders, and launched the platform for 3000+ affiliates to use.

Problem

Discovering insight through user research

To understand how to provide an optimal user experience through the redesign, we conducted 9 key stakeholder interviews along with usability testing of the initial website. Our interviewees included students, professors, and industry sponsors.

Synthesizing our research we came to understand that the concept of Innovation Engineering is unclear. There was a lack of understanding from students and company sponsors in regards to how they can see themselves using the framework, where it comes from, and why it matters to them.

Target Improvements

To address pain points seen throughout our research and usability testing, we came up with three main themes to target within our redesign.

Website structure and hierarchy

Improving user flow, we developed an updated website structure and hierarchy prior to integrating the content of the site.

Main changes

About tab after Home

Provides greater logical flow.
‍

Adding Resources tab

Central source to better engage and educate students with accessible project tools.

Adding Affiliates tab

Strengthens stakeholder connection by showcasing those using the framework.

Showcasing IE Applications

Demonstrates the impact of Innovation Engineering through a visualization of impactful projects & applications to the world.

Low Fidelity Prototyping

Brainstorming solutions: Wireframes

Take a glimpse into our wireframing process during our ideation phase.

Iteration Process

Innovation Engineering Applications

Resources — Framework Templates

Affiliations

Branding

We also created a set of branding guidelines including color, fonts, and logos. Our colors include bold tones such as blue and orange to emphasize upscaling and innovation while keeping a professional look. The logo also features an upward arrow to showcase novelty and success.

Final Prototype

Before

After

Homepage

Addressing pain points

Uses language that promotes action to influence the user to learn more about Innovation Engineering.

Describes Innovation Engineering in simple terms helping those who have never heard of the framework.

Directly states our target audience to avoid confusion of who the website is for.

Utilizes simple, clean branding with consistent colors and visualizations.

Avoids overwhelming the user with excess information/text on the home page.

About

Gives context on the foundations of Innovation Engineering.

Resources

Aims to educate the user on the framework with videos and project templates.

Affiliations

Allows the user to understand what organizations, programs, and institutions are connected to Innovation Engineering.

Founder

Gives the user a concise understanding of the Innovation Engineering founder and how to get in contact.

Learnings

The power of user interviews.

Coming into this internship, I did not have any background on Innovation Engineering. Talking to students, professors, and industry partners was essential to me to understand the viewpoints of those who directly use the framework. It's important to listen to the users you are designing for and take into consideration their needs from an unbiased perspective.

Communication

Throughout this project, I was able to work with a team from a variety of backgrounds. With others not familiar with the design process, I had to make sure to communicate my steps and clearly present areas of opportunity that came from my user research. Communication goes a long way and helps everyone to be on the same page.

Innovation Engineering